UAVs project will support Lagos smart city initiative – Sanwo-Olu

Lagos State Government is committed to actualising its smart city status with the launch of Two Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, (UAVs), to provide a more convenient system in the delivery of the digital mapping infrastructure that will support the vision of making Lagos a 21st-Century economy, driven by innovation and technology.

Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who made the disclosure during the inauguration of the Tiguar S-410 UAVs at the Sport complex of Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, said “We are confident that with this Project, Lagos will also be able to control the process, rather than working with an outside vendor or being stuck with generic imagery that doesn’t meet the temporal requirement of the State”.

Represented by the Honourable Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Hakeem Fahm, the Governor maintained that the new development will transform the landscape of the State, delivering systems that support the dream of a greater Lagos, enhancing the aesthetics of our environment and uplifting the standard of living of Lagosians without jeopardising their livelihood.

“It is our belief that the improved geospatial data from this initiative will ultimately lead to improved planning and services to the people”, he added.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr. Segun Adeniji, said that the Tiguar S-410 series UAV is part of the LASG enterprise’ GIS upgrade and integrated land administration automation system.

“The objective is to provide a full digital mapping platform and an integrated end-to-end land administration system, effectively reducing silos of information that exist across MDAs”, he added.

Adeniji further noted that the acquisition of a UAV is a futuristic cost-saving measure for updates of aerial imagery, reiterating that with the rate of development of the State, regular update of the imagery is inevitable and the cost of hiring specialised aircraft may grow unreasonably high for the government over the years, hence the need for procurement of the UAVs.

The Permanent Secretary Lands Bureau, Mr. Bode Agoro, in his remarks, commended the State Government for the outstanding initiative which would also aid efficiency in Land Administration.